In another bombshell, investigative reporter Natalie Winters has uncovered that Anthony Fauci joined the scientific advisory group of a little-known biotechnology company that later received tens of millions of dollars in federal funding and agreed to be acquired by Eli Lilly and Company for as much as $1.55 billion, according to an investigation published Wednesday by reporter Natalie Winters.
Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases until stepping down in late 2022, became an adviser to Vaccine Company, Inc. in 2023, according to his curriculum vitae.
The privately held company was founded in 2022 and maintained a limited public profile. It subsequently secured funding from the Biden administration’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, known as ARPA-H.
In September 2024, ARPA-H selected Vaccine Company to participate in its A-FAVE project under the agency’s APECx program. The company received an initial award of approximately $28.2 million, with the potential for total funding of up to $49 million through 2029.
The project focused on developing vaccines against flaviviruses including West Nile, dengue, Zika and yellow fever. The company’s technology incorporated mRNA, modified nucleosides and lipid nanoparticles.
EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Fauci quietly joined a stealth mRNA vaccine startup in 2023.
Then the Biden administration awarded it more than $28 million to develop vaccines for viruses with pandemic potential.
Now Eli Lilly is buying it for up to $1.55 billion.
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) July 29, 2026
Julie Ledgerwood, Vaccine Company’s chief medical officer, served as the project’s principal investigator. Ledgerwood previously held a senior position at NIAID’s Vaccine Research Center while Fauci led the agency.
The company’s leadership also included Sonya Bernstein, a former senior policy adviser on the Biden White House COVID-19 Response Team, who served as chief financial officer.
Vaccine Company developed what it called an In Vivo Nanoparticle platform designed to produce durable immune responses resembling those generated by virus-like particle vaccines while simplifying the manufacturing process. Its lead program targeted the Epstein-Barr virus, which is associated with infectious mononucleosis and has been linked to multiple sclerosis and certain cancers.
Eli Lilly announced May 26 that it had agreed to acquire the company for up to $1.55 billion in cash. The agreement included an upfront payment and additional payments tied to clinical and commercial milestones.
The transaction was one of three vaccine-related acquisitions announced by Lilly with a combined potential value of approximately $3.8 billion as the pharmaceutical company sought to expand its infectious-disease portfolio.
A former ARPA-H program manager said publicly that the agency’s support helped “derisk” Vaccine Company’s technology sufficiently to facilitate the acquisition.
Fauci’s curriculum vitae identifies him as a member of the company’s Scientific Advisory Group from 2023 to the present. It does not disclose whether he received consulting fees, equity, stock options or other compensation.
Scientific publications connected to the company have stated that certain employees and advisers may hold equity. No independent public information has established whether Fauci had any financial interest in the company.
Winters’ report raised questions about the sequence of Fauci’s advisory role, the federal award and the subsequent Lilly acquisition. The available records, however, do not establish that Fauci played a role in securing the ARPA-H grant or that he profited from the sale.
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